The European Middle Ages, popularly referred to as ‘dark ages’ can only be described by one word, ‘barbaric’. This was after the fall of the Roman Empire that had ruled for almost 500 years. Hooligans, Hans, barbarians and Goths came from all directions, East and North, sweeping down Europe.
Many buildings and architectural structures that were used during the reign of Roman Empire were destroyed. The Western half of Europe was now in a state of anarchy but Eastern Europe was still thriving. Power was now decentralized, army was disbanded and the force that upheld Rome collapsed. During this time, there was little education and trade, countries were fragmented into small portions that were now under the control of feudal lords.
Barbaric tribes were immense and kings had little power. This means that the Roman army that used to protect the empire was almost powerless and could no longer guarantee security and distance travels became quite risky. I could not even visit my uncle who lived in the neighboring city to have a chat with my cousins and being the only child at home them, life was so boring.
I had to stay indoors for most of the days as schooling had also become difficult. My father would leave us home to go look for casual jobs in the agricultural farms as this was the only place that one could secure one. Feudal lords had taken over all the lands and the laws that protected such property were no longer applicable.
By now, schools were closed roads were not maintained d and living standards were dismal. Agricultural practices were torn down and the agribusiness that had thrived was now replaced by subsistent farming. The fertile lands in the areas of Iran and Iraq that had flourished in technology collapsed and resulted to use of rough methods of irrigation which had a great effect on rivers Tigris and Euphrates. There were salt sediments along these basins and eventually, they became deserts which are prevalent to date.
Misery continued and life became almost unbearable. This was made worse by the emergence of plagues that saw the continued downfall of cities like Persia, Indonesia and Arabia. Northern Greece was also invaded Dorians and this led to the collapse of the famous arts culture and playwrights that had charmed the world.
The Mycenaean who were the Greeks in the Bronze Age and popularly referred by Greeks as Ionians fled and settled in Turkey. Today, there is the believe that the Philistines referred to in the bible were the Ionians who settled in Israel. The church conserved ancient and Biblical writings and it helped in bringing people together since it had a centralized authority and was constant. The barbarian kingdoms were always fighting and could not agree with each other.
Persian Empire tried to take over Byzantine and this marked the beginning of Byzantine civilization. Later, Persia is overcome by Byzantine forces and the Jerusalem cross taken from the Persians. Later, Arabs conquered Byzantine and when they try to do the same to Constantinople, they fail.
For the many years, life here was terrible with no luxuries or riches that were prevalent before the collapse of the Empire. The church continued to unify people in the kingdoms that would later unite to form the present glorious Europe. With the advancement of the middle ages, there was some light at the end of the tunnel and the little that the church had salvaged was used as centers of learning later.